How have I never checked to see what else Estes has written besides The Moffats and The Hundred Dresses?! Though I find this story a little obvious and a little blah now, and can't whole-heartedly recommend it because of doubtful historical accuracy, I would have adored it as a little girl. The bit where Miranda frees the Mother Queen Lion in exchange for drops of milk for all the 33 rescued kittens is priceless. I am sure that neither the school nor city library owned this when I was a child... I don't know why, though. If you like stories about brave cats, and can overlook minor flaws, I hope you can find a copy in your library. It's quite short - my edition 80 pp. w/ pictures. ( )

I love how fiction can really inform your later life experiences. When I finally first visited Rome, and saw the Colosseum, I was immeasurably thrilled to see 'Miranda's' descendants living happily amidst the ruins, wild, but fed and cared for by volunteers.

I've read and reread the author's The Witch Family and The Hundred Dresses since I was a girl, but I'd never run across Miranda the Great before. Miranda, a large golden cat who belongs to a Roman senator's family, smells smoke one day. What Senator Marcus has been warning has come to pass: barbarians are sacking and burning Rome. Claudia, his daughter, and her mother would have gladly taken Miranda and her daughter, Punka, with them, but the cats were frightened by Marcus' horse and hid.

Miranda leads her daughter and some abandoned kittens to safety. This fierce cat even stands up to a lion. It's a charming tale for cat lovers. ( )

Wikipedia in English

When barbarians invade Rome, Miranda the cat and her daughter Punka must find a safe place to hide from the chaos. They make their way through the burning city, collecting motherless kittens as they go. At last they reach the Colosseum--but even there, danger lurks!

How these fortunate felines survive to become the noble ancestors of the cats of modern Rome is all due to the cleverness of the cat they come to call Miranda the Great, Queen of the Colosseum!